I've been obsessed with the Janis Joplin song for days now. Tuesday night I looked for to cover versions on YouTube. Found a few really good ones, lots of ho hum ones, and a good deal of presumptuous or downright blasphemous stuff.
A Britney Spears wannabe trying to do the virgin/whore voice while flicking her hair and pouting at the camera.
An 11-year old rocking it out on TV with absolutely no libido.
A heavy metal band whining and stretching out the tempo and succeeding in turning it into just another annoying heavy metal song.
A country version, well performed and well meant by a talented girl, but much like comparing a daisy to a rose.
A speeded-up version ("caffein") that was just silly but why DO that to a song of this caliber?
The original version by Erma Franklin (Aretha's sister), sort of anticlimactic.
Countless American Idol (or some such show) versions, all equally professional and boring.
I found both the most annoying and some of the best versions were by those who tried to imitate Janis Joplin down to the last throaty interjection. Annoying if they just weren't good enough singers, good if they felt at home truly throwing the reins to the wind. Pink did a pretty good job.
Found a satisfying genre crossover to R&B, from Jamaica - Shaggy feat. Marsha.
And I found some that I loved:
Beverly Knight - She manages to give it the "sweet longing" flavor of R&B/Soul singers without stubbing the edge.
Melissa Etheridge - Really the same style as Janis Joplin, but she is the rare one that manages to make it her own.
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